Consumer feminism must change – The Daily Illini

The relationship between popular culture and perceptions of social movements is intimate. In recent years, feminism has become mainstream and, after becoming more fun and flashy, has appeared in everything from music videos to advertising campaigns.

However, while selling the brilliant idea that feminism is sexy bolsters the movement’s popularity, it also weakens it and distorts the message. Now, even when the mainstream rhetoric empowers and uplifts women, the reality often doesn’t match.

The CW musical drama “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” centers around Rebecca Bunch, a New York lawyer who, despite her success, feels like something is missing in her life. When offered a promotion, she denies it and moves across the country to a small town in California where an ex-lover lives.

Rebecca often views her life as a musical, and each episode features multiple musical numbers. In one case, Rebecca feels dejected after failing to get her ex’s attention and is consoled by a group of teenage girls who decide to give her a makeover.

The song, titled “Put Yourself First”, satirize the tendency that we have to raise women only as far as is convenient and acceptable in a patriarchal society. As the song begins with the lyrics “put yourself first, girl, worry about yourself”, it quickly switches to “put yourself sexy first” and “put yourself first. for him “.

Rebecca quickly points out the irony of the makeover where she “pushes her breasts up” and “wears six-inch heels” supposedly just for herself. In the middle of the song, she intervenes by asking “If I put myself first for him, then by definition don’t I put myself … second?” “

She’s right. Our notion of women’s empowerment, as presented in pop culture and the media, is less about women themselves. Instead, it depends on their relationships with others, namely straight men. While the girls in the song respond, “don’t think too hard, too hard,” this idea is worth exploring.

It can be empowering to show women that they are agency and empowered by reclaiming their sexuality and dressing up for fun. However, in practice this is often done within the limits of what is desirable for men rather than based on what women want. This practice not only maintains the illusion of empowerment, but also allows for the maintenance of oppressive gender norms.

The daydream music video also features a photographer taking pictures of the girls with the tag “male gaze”. The term refers to the objectification of women through the perspective of straight men for visual pleasure. While it was the first invented by criticism Laura Mulvey within the framework of the cinema, it also applies elsewhere.

The “male-eyed” photographer who appears in the video bears an eerie resemblance to Terry Richardson, a photographer once known in the fashion world for his provocative shoots. In 2017, it was revealed that several major magazines had cut ties with Richardson after more than a decade of sexual abuse and harassment have come to the fore.

For many years he was celebrated for his nervousness and was known as an artist for his sexually explicit work. Behind the scenes, however, Richardson used his position to manipulate and exploit young girls and women with minimal repercussions. Unfortunately, Richardson is right an example predators abusing their power to objectify and take advantage of women.

Rayna is in second year at LAS.

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